


The Twelve Uses of Dragon's Blood

by colakit



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gender Dysphoria, LGBT, M/M, Magic, Misgendering, Not Canon Compliant, Questioning, Questioning Sexuality, Sexuality, Trans Male Character, Trans Male Dumbledore, Transphobia, deadnaming, expect some teenage hormones and a bit of exploration and frustration, exploration of sexuality and gender, mildly nsfw but nothing too explicit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29837625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colakit/pseuds/colakit
Summary: The Dumbledores are known for their ability to keep their secrets well hidden, and Albus Dumbledore is no exception. But the clock is ticking, and unless he can come up with a solution to his most astronomical flaw, everything he has ever worked for will come undone.(Or: Albus Dumbledore does his damndest to find a cure to his gender crisis.)
Relationships: Aberforth Dumbledore & Albus Dumbledore, Albus Dumbledore/Gellert Grindelwald, Elphias Doge & Albus Dumbledore
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	The Twelve Uses of Dragon's Blood

“Ariana Dumbledore!” The headmaster’s voice boomed, causing the rest of the first years to momentarily pause their conversations.  
Ariana quickly approached the stool, attempting to appear as collected as possible. In reality, she was more anxious than the rest of the first years combined.  
Part of it was being separated from Aberforth. Though she was older than him by three years, his unwavering confidence and boldness made him a natural born leader, and Ariana had always looked up to him as something of an older brother.  
But the more immediate concern was her father’s legacy, and what it meant for her.  
He had died shortly before she got her invitation to Hogwarts, having spent nearly five years rotting away in Azkaban. Until she had gotten to King’s Cross, she’d had no idea just how far the rumors of her father’s actions had spread. Several bold purebloods from predominantly Slytherin families had approached her with pride, and she’d even received a few approving nods from some of the parents. Other parents pulled their children away from her, quietly whispering warnings to stay back. After all, what if Ariana had inherited some of her father’s violent, sadistic behaviors?  
Ariana could do nothing more than shoo the Slytherins away and hang her head in shame. How could she explain that his actions were not born of hatred for muggles? That it was all her fault that he had attacked those muggle children, and consequently died in Azkaban? That her own mother was muggleborn?  
But no one outside of her family could know. Not ever.  
She would simply have to endure the whispers, the unspoken expectation that she would be sorted into Slytherin. Privately Ariana hoped she would land in Ravenclaw or, if she dared to hope, Gryffindor, but she would prove everyone wrong even if she was sorted into Slytherin.

There was, of course, one more fear rising in her chest, but she quickly stamped it out as she sat down on the four legged stool. Not now, she thought, as the old battered Sorting Hat fell over her eyes.  
“Well, aren’t you an interesting one!” The hat chortled. Ariana jumped in surprise. She had not expected the hat to speak to her.  
“Most first years don’t.” It cackled. “And you’re the eldest, so no one ahead of you to warn you, eh, Albus?”  
She felt her blood run cold. Nobody knew that name.  
“You would make an excellent Ravenclaw. Certainly are clever enough for it...yes, quite brilliant indeed...but you’re braver than you give yourself credit for. Daring, when it’s called for. You have no problem standing up for yourself. And it’s going to take a lot of nerve to get through your journey.”  
Her heart stopped at that. Of course she knew exactly what the hat meant. But how did it know, when nobody, not even Aberforth knew?  
“Yes, I think there’s a better match for you - GRYFFINDOR!” The hat declared for the entire hall to hear.  
There were a few gasps of surprise from the Slytherin table, but they were drowned out by the welcoming cheers of the Gryffindors. A few of the older students still glared at Ariana, but her father’s legacy was temporarily forgotten by her.  
She sat down at the first empty seat available, still stunned by the  
Sorting Hat’s revelation - or confirmation - that she didn’t notice the boy next to her at first.  
“S-Sorry to bother you, but you’re sitting on my robe.”  
She blinked in surprise, eyes finally focusing on the boy beside her. She leapt up, muttering an apology as she did.  
She settled beside him once more. “That wasn’t what I expected!”  
“Me neither. I never expected to get into Gryffindor.” The boy said, grinning wide. His skin had a greenish tinge to it, and was freckled with the tell-tale pockmarks of dragonpox.  
She finally recognized him as the first year sorted before her; Elphias Doge. Her mind had started working again, and she began to take in her surroundings. There were wide gaps on either side of Elphias, and evidently, the rest of their house was afraid of catching dragonpox from him.  
As if he had read her mind, he suddenly blurted out, “I’m not contagious anymore! It just takes a bit to, er, fade.”  
She nodded understandably, and, noticing the scarlet blossoming across his face and clashing with his green skin, she quickly said, “You’re Elphias Doge, right?”  
“Oh, yes, that’s me! You’re a Dumbledore, aren’t you? I missed your name.”  
“Albus.” She said without thinking.  
She had never introduced herself by that name, but if the Sorting Hat had called her Albus, it must be her real name.  
And then the realization hit her: She was a boy.  
Albus was his name, and he really was a boy, after all.  
Elphias was completely oblivious to the life changing realizations happening inside Albus’s head, as was apparent when he continued to call out Albus’s name.  
“Albus! You sure do drift off a lot.” He laughed.  
“Sorry...missed out on sleep last night.” Albus mumbled apologetically.  
“Me too! My nerves were through the roof...but actually, what I’ve wanted to ask is...is it true? That your father killed a bunch of muggles?”  
Albus groaned. He had been so wrapped up in his gender related crisis, he had almost forgotten.  
“He didn’t kill them. He just hexed them.”  
Elphias’s eyes went wide. Without context, hexing muggle children didn’t sound much better than killing them.  
“But he’s dead now, and I’m not my father.” He wasn’t sure where the coldness in his voice had come from, and the harshness of the statement took even him by surprise. Elphias’s mouth shut immediately. He did not inquire further.  
The table began to fill up around them as more first years were sorted. A few more daring students began to take a seat closer to Elphias, noticing that Albus seemed to be able to do so without turning a shade of green. Albus soon became immersed in conversation with the other Gryffindors, all of whom had seemingly forgotten what name had been called at the start of the sorting, and had only known him by his family name. Everyone accepted him as a boy at once - after all, Albus was a boy’s name, and no one had a reason to assume otherwise.  
Even the neighborhood kids had always thought Albus was a boy growing up, before Aberforth was old enough to correct them, and before he had stopped playing with the other children.

The feast itself went well enough, and by the time pudding was served, Albus had befriended several more of the Gryffindor boys. Albus had never felt so happy in his life. He didn’t even have the words to describe the deep sense of self and belonging he was experiencing. Even Aberforth had not known this side of him, and yet here he was, blindly accepted by his whole house.  
It was not too long before Albus found himself yawning. Elphias hardly seemed to be doing better himself; his head had lolled to one side, and Albus swore he heard him snoring. Darrien Miller, one of the other first years Albus had befriended, rubbed his eyes. “Where are we sleeping?”  
“I’ll be showing you to the dormitory!” A voice belonging to a dark haired prefect piped in. The food vanished from their plates, and one by one, the students in the Great Hall stood up.

Albus gently tapped Elphias, who woke with a start. “What’s happening?”  
One of his sleeves had apparently slipped into the pumpkin juice when he had dozed off, and it was now dripping orange.  
“We’re going to the dormintory.” Albus pointed to the rest of the first years crowding around the dark haired prefect from earlier. He had since been joined by a female prefect, who was chatting animatedly with some of the younger students.  
The two boys quickly joined the rest of the crowd as they marched toward the Gryffindor tower. He was now completely aware of the looks he was receiving by passing students, the soft chatter that followed him up shifting stairwells and down hallways guarded by invisible Knights inside rusting armor. He could have sworn that even some of the paintings were talking about him, but perhaps his increasing exhaustion was simply stirring up paranoia.  
The prefects stopped them in front of a painting of a woman, the more talkative of the two stepping in front to stop anybody from getting ahead, much to the annoyance of some of the older students. “This is The Fat Lady. She guards The Gryffindor common room and dormitories, and only those with the correct password can enter,” She explained, “The password changes pretty often, so be sure to keep track of the right one. The current password is-”  
“Carpe diem!” One of the older students shouted impatiently. The painting swung open, revealing a hidden entrance.  
“Yes, that’s it.” The interrupted prefect grumbled.  
One by one the Gryffindors stepped through the entrance.  
Albus was amazed by the warm atmosphere of the room. There was a fire lit in the fireplace, casting a cozy glow over the large room, and all around were comfortable looking chairs, sofas, and cushions. The golden embroidery of the layered rugs on the floor and the lion clad tapestries on the walls reflected the glow of the fire, and in Albus’s tired mind, it looked as though golden embers had been thrown about the room.  
“This is the common room. You can study here, hang out….party,” The dark haired prefect explained with a wink. “Anybody is welcome here at any time. But no students from other houses!” There were a few groans, but he continued. “The dormitories are separated by boys and girls. All the girls will go with Rosalie, and I’ll show you guys where the boy’s dormintory is.”  
Albus’s heart sank. He hadn’t even considered that the dormitories would be separated by gender.  
Where should he go? He had already introduced himself to at least half of the Gryffindors as Albus, but the Headmaster had called him Ariana, which must mean that the professors only knew him as a girl. How had he not considered that already? His heart sank further as he realized that he would have to explain himself, either to his classmates or his teachers, or possibly both. But that would be a problem to deal with the next day, he decided, making up his mind. He would spend the night in the boy’s dormintory, and figure out an explanation by the start of classes.  
The young wizards had already begun to separate themselves when Rosalie spoke up. “Ebenezer forgot to mention, but you’ve all been assigned rooms by name! Your trunks are already waiting in your dorm room, but wait for me to call your names before you try to find the room on your own.”  
The dark haired perfect-Ebenezer-nodded in agreement, extinguishing Albus’s remaining hope. He would have no choice but to join the girls afterall. He just hoped nobody would notice.  
Without another word, he slipped away from Elphias, stepping in the middle of the crowd of girls and ducking his head in an attempt to blend in.  
Between the excitement and exhaustion, he successfully went unnoticed. Rosalie chatted with them for another few minutes before finally leading the group to the staircase of the girl’s dormintory. Albus was far too humiliated to pay attention to what she was saying, but was relieved that her chattering lasted long enough for the other boys to follow Ebenezer to the boy’s dormitory. Nobody would see him with the girls.  
Despite that small comfort, Albus found himself trudging behind the rest of the group, reluctant to associate with the girls, as if it might keep his newly embraced identity intact.  
He was halfway up the stairs when the wailing began. It shocked him enough to shake any bit of exhaustion he had felt. It was an awful, piercing wail, and he frantically covered his ears. Suddenly, the stairs gave way beneath him, and he stumbled backwards. He didn’t have enough time to catch himself. He fell back, his feet sliding out from under him. He heard a sharp CRACK and the room went dark.

☆☆☆

Albus was surprised to find himself staring up at a crowd of concerned faces. He jerked upward, crimson and gold spinning around him. So he was back in the common room. He couldn’t have been out for more than a few minutes, he realized, as the girls surrounding him were still in their school dress robes, having had no time to change into sleeping gowns.  
“What were you thinking?” A voice shrieked. Rosalie came into sharp focus, her face as red as the room decor. “You-you pervert! Sneaking into the girl’s dormintory on the first night of school!?” Albus found himself unable to speak. How had they figured it out? And what exactly had happened?  
He replayed the scene in his mind as the worried expressions around him soured into disgust. There was commotion at the entrance of the room, and then an older student appeared, alongside a balding professor.  
“Oh! He’s awake now.” The student said.  
The professor gave the scene a once over. “Yes, he does appear to be conscious. Are there any signs of external injury, any bleeding…?”  
“His hair is too red to tell.” One of the girls murmured, and the professor stepped forward.  
He held his wand over the crown of Albus’s head.  
“Lumos.”  
The professor grunted, and after a few seconds he extinguished the light.  
“Shouldn’t be much worse than a nasty headache. That will teach him a lesson, I’m sure.”  
“He’ll be getting more than just that! A week’s worth of detention, at least!” Rosalie screeched.  
There was now some giggling from the girls, and the professor took a step back.  
“Well, if that is all, you all ought to head to bed. Just make sure he ends up in the right dormitory this time. Someone should teach the lad how to figure which lavatory to use, while you’re at it…” The giggling turned to full blown laughter, and Albus felt his cheeks growing hot.  
“The rest of you, go up to the dorms and wait for me to return!” Rosalie barked. The laughter stopped at once, and the girls hurried back to the stairs.  
Rosalie yanked Albus up by the arm and practically dragged him to the boy’s dormitory, lecturing him all the way up the stairs.  
He still couldn’t figure out what had happened. Had one of the girls heard him introduce himself as a boy earlier, and hit him with a spell when he tried entering the girl’s dormitory? And what about his belongings? Surely they were still waiting there for him, having been set aside for an Ariana Dumbledore.  
When they reached the top of the steps, Rosalie rapped hard on the door. She did not wait for an answer before entering, and there were quite a few exclamations and surprised gasps when she threw open the door.  
Albus was mildly surprised when no spells came flying at her, though he figured that very few boys would be unhappy to find a girl in their dorm.  
Ebenezer rushed over, confusion written on his face. “What are you-”  
“One of yours just tried to sneak into the girl’s dormitory!” Rosalie shouted, pushing Albus towards him.  
The confusion melted and Ebenezer’s lips twisted into a smirk. “On the first night of school?” He snorted, seemingly impressed.  
This was clearly not the response that Rosalie had anticipated. “The last thing those poor first years need is some peeping tom trying to invade their personal space!” She shrieked.  
Though it was not the first time that night she had made such a comment, Albus was finally lucid enough to process what she was suggesting. Was that how they viewed him?  
Ebenezer was nodding slowly, unsuccessfully trying to hide his amusement beneath a mask of maturity. “Oh yes, it’s a serious crime indeed. I’ll be sure to punish him accordingly.”  
Though Rosalie looked as though she had more to say, she shut her mouth and straightened her posture.  
“He already has a week of detention - I’m making sure enough. And if he’s caught trying to get into our dorms again…” She trailed off, allowing the unspoken threat to sink in. After a moment of heavy silence she turned back to the steps, slamming the door behind her.  
The silence lingered for only a split second more before Ebenezer started laughing.  
“She didn’t warn you about the spell to keep the boys out of the girl’s room?”  
“What? There’s a spell for that?” Albus sputtered.  
“It sets off some awful alarm and turns the stairs into a slide when any guy tries to get up there. There’s no way to get past it. Trust me, many have tried.”  
“Then how did she get in here?”  
“It only works one way. The founders thought girls were more trustworthy or something.” Ebenezer shrugged, still grinning.  
Albus didn’t think that was particularly fair, but he decided against voicing his opinion. He figured most of the other boys shared his opinion for far different reasons.  
The prefect yawned and stretched an arm. “Thanks for the source of entertainment, but I think it’s time to head to bed. I’ll let you figure out where your belongings are. Oh, and try to save sneaking off with some girls for when you’re a bit more settled.”  
Before Albus had a chance to defend himself, Ebenezer slipped out of the room, still snickering to himself.  
Of course Albus knew that his belongings were locked away in a tower he had no way of getting into, but Ebenezer had no way of knowing that, and Albus had no idea how to explain to him or anyone else why that was the case.  
If the spell could only be activated by a boy, and he was the only one in the crowd expelled, it was just further proof that he really was a boy. And yet, how could he explain that he was born a girl, and given a girl’s name?  
As predicted by the professor, Albus could feel a pounding headache coming on. He gave up on trying to figure out his current predicament and resolved to finding an empty bed for the night.  
He passed several rooms full of occupied beds before he found an empty one. The other three four-poster beds had their curtains drawn, and Albus paused in the doorway, counting three different snores. Everyone else was asleep, so he would have the room to himself to settle. That was some small comfort, at least.  
He stopped dead in his tracks when he realized there was a trunk sitting at the end of the empty bed. Even in the dark, he could make out the outline of the phoenix etched into its rosewood exterior.  
He threw the trunk open, confirming his suspicion: this was his trunk. But how…?  
There was very little Albus could do in terms of sleuthing without waking his slumbering roommates, so he retrieved his nightgown and collapsed onto the bed, faced with a new problem: the matter of getting dressed.  
There had to be a lavatory somewhere, but he didn’t want to risk waking anyone up and having to explain where he had been earlier - surely someone had noticed the empty bed.  
He finally decided to draw the curtains around his bed; even if anyone else had been awake, they couldn’t see through the curtains.  
If it became a problem, he would find a solution in the future, but locating the lavatory would likely resolve it. But he was still young enough that being shirtless wouldn’t be too much of a giveaway...oh.  
Regardless of what the Sorting Hat had called him, and the earlier events of the night, Albus was still going to grow in a way that would be noticeably feminine, wouldn’t he?  
That had always been one of his deepest fears; knowing that eventually the freedom of childhood androgyny would fade away and his body would betray him. Up until that point, he always dismissed it as being so far away, but it was beginning to sink in that puberty wasn’t something he could simply outrun, and it was approaching fast.  
He had to figure out a way to stall it from happening - or, better yet, figure out how to turn it into the same sort of change the rest of the boys went through.  
Surely there had to be spells for that sort of stuff, right?

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> This is my first published fanfic since 2015 (the days of WattPad.) I'm a bit rusty and it's been a bit since I last read the Harry Potter books, so all feedback is very much appreciated.  
> As a trans man, I do not share JKR's bigoted beliefs. Much of Albus's experiences are based on my own experiences and wishes as a trans man.  
> The main focus of this fic is Albus's exploration of his gender and sexuality, and though I will do my best to provide warnings at the start of each chapter, gender dysphoria will be present in many chapters, as well as some misgendering and mentions of his deadname. The bulk of the story takes place in the late 1800s, and gender is viewed as a strict binary for a good chunk of the story. Non binary wizards will be mentioned in later chapters.  
> Hope you enjoy! :)


End file.
